What Did Adam Dowdall find this week?

 

Adam was searching on location at an local old homestead this week, and no, he is not going to tell you exactly where it is:) He found an 1805 George 3 Irish Hibernia Penny. It’s not worth that much but, he also found spoons, buttons and an oxen shoe.

 

Adam gave the oxen shoe to his father Beckwith Councillor Brian Dowdall because Brian is interested in them. Did you know after 1860 settlers stopped using oxen in Beckwith Township?

 

Oxen became the choice of a majority of the emigrants.  Almost without exception, their guide books given to them recommended oxen. They were a little slower, traveling only 15 miles per day on average.

However, oxen were dependable, less likely to run off, less likely to be stolen by the Indians, better able to withstand the fatigue of the journey and were more likely to survive on available vegetation.  If they strayed they could be pursued and overtaken by horsemen.  Not only were they the least expensive to purchase but they were more valuable on arrival, especially to farmers.  In 1846 a yoke of oxen cost around $25.  During the gold rush years prices peaked at around $40-$60 in the late spring.

And one final issue that entered into the decision was the difference in time to harness oxen as compared to a horse or mule.  Suze Hammond, while reading “March of the Mounted Riflemen to Oregon in 1849” by Major Osbourne Cross noticed reference to this point and brought it to my attention.  As one who has had to harness horse teams, Suze made this observation –

“An ox requires the hoop under the yoke be slid up, the yoke attached to the wagon tongue and a lead string put through its nose ring, and that’s about it! (The second ox is a little harder to hook up because you have to get the first one to stand still too, as they are to be solidly attached to one another.) The equine has a cinch under its belly, a bridle with a bit, traces to attach to the singletrees, lines to arrange so they will not tangle, a cross-lines arrangement so that the teamster ends up with only one set of lines and not one for each animal, a horsecollar closed, and all straps lying flat so as not to abrade its skin over the day’s pull.  The amount of time difference would be significant when preparing to leave each morning.”  —Stephenie Flora

 

RELATED READING:

Adam Dowdall’s Metal Detecting Group- FACEBOOK PAGE

The Mystery Ruins of Carleton Place- Photos by Adam Dowdall

The Luck of the “Irish”– Coins Found by Adam Dowdall

Adam Dowdall Just Found the Oldest Coin in Beckwith County

What Did Adam Dowdall Find in My Carleton Place Yard?

 

What Did Adam Dowdall Find in My Carleton Place Yard?

Pieces from the Staffordshire Hoard, an Anglo-Saxon treasure trove discovered by metal detector in 2009. (Photo: David Rowan/Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery)

By: Melissa Breyer

You may think the lone treasure seeker scanning the sand with a metal detector at the beach seems a bit dorky — no offense to “detectorists,” of course — but that only makes this revenge of the nerds all the sweeter.

With recent news that a retired businessman unearthed the mother lode of Viking gold and silver artifacts dating back more than 1,000 years in Scotland, the fine art of metal detecting just got a whole lot sexier. Derek McLennan’s find, hailed as the country’s most significant, is comprised of 100 items including a 9th-century solid silver cross, a silver pot, gold objects, a rare silver cup engraved with animals that dates from the Holy Roman Empire, and a gold bird pin. The value of the find is expected to be in the six-figure range; and it’s not McLennan’s first big find. Last year, he found about 300 medieval coins in the same area.

You just never know what these modern-day prospectors might discover. With that in mind, we rounded up some of the more significant finds that have us thinking that maybe it’s time to get a metal detector after all — name-calling be damned.

October 2015

Adam Dowdall, founder of Adam Dowdall’s  Metal Detecting Group in the Carleton Place area came to see what he could find in my yard last week. I warned him that most of the people that lived in this home did not have that much money and were simple people. In fact one family even had to burn their furniture in the fireplace to stay warm one winter a zillion years ago. During the year long renovation after the 1995 fire, the only thing found in the walls was a playing card and a small note from a child to his mother. So, I had no idea what he would find.

After a few hours Adam found the following things: a King Edward 10 cent piece from 1906, a WW2 Canada button, an old amulet I had in the 80s that I bought from the back of a magazine, and a ‘play” gumball machine type ring that probably fell from where the trampoline once was. No amulets or Viking gold in my yard, but thanks Adam– it was a lot of fun!